Advances in analytical science have made it possible to extract a wide variety of information from a biological specimen. For example, it may be possible to assess the health, identify possible future health issues, and provide information related to the genetic makeup of an individual from which the specimen was obtained. The benefits of such analysis, however, may be lost if results are associated with the wrong individual and/or if the specimen is processed incorrectly.
Many of these biological specimens may be processed in laboratories. The laboratory may receive such specimens from institutions, including, for example, hospitals, clinics, and/or the police, and also, to a lesser extent, from individuals themselves. These specimens may include, for example, tissue removed during a surgical procedure, tissue from crime scenes, and test materials from a home testing kit (e.g., an HIV test), among other things.
In a laboratory, many resources and man-hours may be consumed to process, prepare, and test a specimen. Each specimen may also pass through many lab stations and may be handled by many operators, leading to potential losses in efficiency and clerical errors, among other things. For example, a laboratory may use an accessioning station to receive and prep the specimen (e.g., by labeling the specimen, listing the requested tests, etc.) before further analysis. After accessioning, a technician may carry a specimen to a grossing station to measure, cut, and record a description of the specimen. The specimen may then be manually altered (e.g., by embedding, sectioning, staining, imaging, etc.) at subsequent stations where process data may or may not be tracked. Throughout execution of these processes, multiple technicians may handle the specimen and record data associated with it. Each station or process thus introduces more costs and opportunities for error. For example, one or more technicians may repeatedly perform process steps incorrectly (e.g., use an incorrect stain, embed a sample in too much paraffin, section a specimen too closely, etc.). Because such processes may not be tracked, and/or because such data may not be easily and succinctly summarized for review by administrators, costly errors may go uncorrected.
To help avoid errors during the lab processing, laboratories may employ elaborate systems of paperwork. However, this incurs yet additional expenses. Many laboratories use log books, tracking sheets, and other manual processes to help identify and track specimens. However, these manual methods do not adequately provide information on the workflow of a specimen as it is processed in the laboratory. Nor do manual methods lend themselves to quickly and efficiently providing high-level summary data to the lab manager or others with an interest in gaining an understanding of the overall operations of the laboratory. There thus exists a need to track and provide workflow information associated with a specimen as it is processed in a laboratory and to present the information in meaningful ways at both detailed and macro levels.